


Alone on the Edge

by Dead_Account1000



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Can Be Read As Romantic, Canon Compliant, Gen, M/M, Shiro is mentioned, blood and injury description, langstautumnevent2k18
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-11 07:31:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15967646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dead_Account1000/pseuds/Dead_Account1000
Summary: Lance is determined to see to Keith's rescue after they've been separated from their team.But will he survive long enough to see it through?





	Alone on the Edge

**Author's Note:**

  * For [King_of_Clubs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/King_of_Clubs/gifts).



> Hello! This was written for [king-of-langst](https://king-of-langst.tumblr.com/) for the Langst Autumn Event!
> 
> I hope you enjoy! :)
> 
> Spoilers and Warnings Below.

_ Keith was the future. _

Being half Galra and half human, Keith was the living embodiment of the future with the Earth now knowing about aliens. He needed to live, no matter what.

Lance would make sure of that.

They had been stranded here on this desolate planet for a few days now, and Lance was sending multiple distress signals from both the Red and Black Lions. It was the only thing they had enough power for, being separated from the group by a fleet of Galra ships and forced to land here. There were still a few loyal to Haggar and the Galra cause, and would see the end of Voltron once and for all.

Lance was the only one who could walk after the crash, Keith with his broken leg and arm being out of commission for that task. He was frustrated and grumpy, unable to do anything to help them out. So it fell onto Lance, who  _ could. _ He just made sure to keep his bloody coughs away from his brooding leader. 

They hadn't been bad the first day or so, only a dull discomfort. But as the days wore on, so did the pain, increasing to a sharp pressure with Lance coughing up bloody phlegm. He was pretty sure he had a concussion as well but there was nothing he could do. They needed to survive, and that was up to Lance. He even threw up one day, luckily away from Keith, but it wasn't pretty and it was mainly blood. Something internal must have ruptured, but he pushed on.

He only took stock of his own injuries when he was sure Keith was knocked out for the night, using the glow of the fire he managed to get going to light his self-diagnostics. Dark bruising was already coloring the bottom side of his left rib cage, dark tendrils reaching out to cover his diaphragm and onto the right side of his body. His head spun a little just looking at it, and that's when Lance also acknowledged his concussion. There was internal damage, Lance noted with dismay. The probability of him surviving was dwindling with each passing second. He glanced over to Keith, who was scowling even in his sleep. Lance made his choice watching his leader and friend rest.

_ Keith needed to survive. _

  
  


It was nearing the fifth day of their isolation, dawn breaking over the horizon, when a signal came through.

_ “Lance? Keith? Are you there? Oh please respond.” _

Lance could barely hear them from his seat next to Keith, who was leaning heavily against him. Keith was out of it, having fallen asleep on Lance's shoulder. He reached over to his helmet and pulled it on, grimacing as the voice grew louder.

_ “Paladins, please respond!” _

“We're here, Allura,” Lance spoke weakly before coughing wetly into his hand, pulling it away to show the red, sticky liquid covering his suit.

_ “Oh thank the stars you're okay! I'm assuming Keith is with you? How badly are you hurt? We're only a few ticks away so hang tight!” _

Lance didn't reply, glancing to the side to see his disturbingly large pile of bloody vomit. He could hear the distant roar of Lions coming in through the atmosphere. Lance shifted Keith off of him before slowly rising to his knees. He braced his arms underneath Keith's knees and upper back before lifting up. His legs wobbled and pain sheared through his chest and abdomen, but he pressed on, managing to make it to his feet just in time to see the three others in the distance. Lance managed to make it a few feet before they landed not even a Lions’ length away from them. Lance pushed himself as far as he could, barely making it to the halfway point between their Lions and the others, dropping to his knees with Keith still clutched tightly to him, out of fear of dropping him and out of his own pain, blood dribbling out of the corners of his mouth.

Allura jumped out of Blue first, quickly followed by Pidge and Hunk. They ran to him, yelling excitedly before it turned worried and scared when they saw the blood. Lance wanted to make sure they understood who took priority here.

“Save him.”

The last thing he saw was Allura’s tear-stained, heart-stricken face before he welcomed the darkness.

  
  


Keith's experience on the deserted planet was splotchy at best, pain driving him in and out of consciousness. He remembers Lance being there, feeding and taking care of them while they were stranded. He didn't remember if Lance had been injured or not, but obviously he had been.

Keith had woke up briefly when Lance had answered a call through his helmet.

“We're here, Allura.”

The response was weak and immediately followed by an extremely wet sounding cough. The sound made Keith's stomach turn, sparking worry in his veins as the smell of vomit and iron reached his nose. It would've made him gag if he had anything left in his stomach from their meal from the night before. 

He tried to move, to sit up and look at the Red Paladin, his friend, to see what was wrong. But all he could do was grit his teeth as he was jostled into Lance's arms, the other rising slowly to his feet with Keith cradled between them.

He wanted to open his eyes, dammit. He needed to see how Lance was doing, why he was shaking so badly as he carried him. Keith could hear the distant hum of the Lions, first from a distance away before it quickly got closer. He could feel the air shift around him as the others landed nearby.

Lance hadn't been walking for more than a couple seconds before he went down, hard. The impact affected Keith, but not as much as it would've if Lance had dropped him, which he  _ didn't _ . Keith could finally crack his eyes open at the sudden shift, and when he did, he wished he hadn't.

Lance was pale, bruises littering his face and dominant under his sunken eyes. Blood was dripping out of his mouth as he looked forward, to where Keith could sense the others running towards them from. Once vibrant blue eyes were dull, bloodshot and resigned. Soft, chestnut hair was oily and tattered, clinging to Lance's face from sweat and blood. There was blood caked to the left side of his face, old and new mixed together, coming from his hairline.

There was yelling from the others as they approached. Keith couldn't really understand them, but he could understand what Lance spoke when they were close enough.

_ “Save him.” _

Keith could tell that Lance had blacked out, but his grip didn't loosen up on Keith. He could see Allura's tear soaked face come into view as she called for Lance to wake up, Pidge's and Hunk's joining soon after. The Yellow Paladin had tears pouring down his face as Pidge spoke quietly.

“We needed to get them back to the Altas,  _ now _ .”

“Lance won't let go of him.”

“Then grab them both! I'll hail Shiro and tell him to get the med-bay ready for the both of them!”

Keith groaned as he was jostled again, keeping his eyes cracked open as he watched Hunk move into his line of sight. He locked gazes with him, seeing how the other's eyes widened at seeing him awake.

“You're going to be fine, Keith.”

Hunk's voice was clear if not a little unsteady as he addressed the injured Paladin. Keith was fine with that but he couldn't help but think.

_ What about Lance? _

As Keith was moved again, he felt his consciousness slipping out from his fingers. He resigned himself to passing out and didn't fight it. As he closed his eyes, he felt Hunk's hands move to where Lance's where still clutched tightly around him.

The last thing he felt was himself being pried from Lance's almost unbreakable grip.

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Depictions of blood and injury, Lance is suffering from internal damage and a concussion while Keith is suffering from a broken arm and leg. This was designed to be open ended so the ending is up to you, the reader.
> 
> I will answer any and all questions and I hope you enjoyed the reading!


End file.
